Markus Accipiter
Markus is the fourth-oldest child of the current Lord and Lady Accipiter, and one of Leif Jade’s older brothers. He serves as a knight to House Curys. He did not appear in the main Medieval game, but has since appeared in side material. History Markus was the first Accipiter child born without magic, and as their first son with no magical talent, Richard and Cateline Accipiter decided he would be the family knight. He was sent to House Curys in Araydian for page training. Markus saw fairly little of his family growing up, as the distance between the two Houses was quite long and the young page didn’t have much in the way of vacation time. As he grew older, he did make some attempts to visit more often - and over time his outside perspective allowed him to see that many of his family members’ relationships were not particularly healthy. Though he attempted to do what he could for his siblings, especially the younger ones, he didn’t always know what the correct thing to do was, and there was so much to try and fix in such a short amount of time that Markus often left feeling frustrated and as if he hadn’t done enough to help them. Over time, though, he did manage a few improvements, and particularly eventually became friendly with Chamile and Jonathon, his very youngest sister and brother, when they reached out to him as well, and Markus and Ingrid had always been able to sympathize with each others’ lack of magical ability in a family full of mages. In some respects Markus’ relationship with Henry suffered for his attempts to defend their siblings from his sometimes forceful ways. Around 1310-ish, Markus made the mistake of bringing home a gentleman suitor. Much to Markus’ bewilderment and aggravation, his parents were insistent that he needed to marry someone with whom he could have children. Said suitor’s reaction to the Accipiters’ disapproval wound up convincing Markus that the relationship wasn’t a good one for reasons outside of the possibility of having children, and the two broke up. Not long afterward, however, Markus met Linnea Standhal, a general’s daughter who needs more solid headcanons before I can write about her and Markus. Sads. Suffice to say they get married. Appearances Into Thin Air - May 1312 - Markus and his squad investigate the mysterious theft of livestock in the tiny village of Bexley - a task easier stated than completed. Birds of a Feather - June/July 1316 - Markus comes along with his parents, eldest brother Henry, and younger siblings Chamile and Jonathon to Medieville in the hopes of getting to forging a relationship with his brother Leif. While the conflict between Leif and the elder members of his family is the focus of the story, Markus appears in parts one, five, and seven, as well as the epilogue. Flesh and Blood: Part One - Spring 1317 - Markus is accompanying Leif on a vacation to Nid’aigle, where Markus intends to see the elven city, meet Leif’s friend Sieg Braham, and have some brotherly bonding time with Leif. They arrive in Kolanth and meet Sieg, and there is snark galore. In the city proper, while Leif nerds over elven raptors, Markus and Sieg have a conversation equal parts joking and serious, in which Markus confesses his guilt that he wasn’t able to help Leif as a child. Written by Shinko and Tiger. Flesh and Blood: Part Two - Sieg takes Markus and Leif to see the barracks, where they meet Sieg’s knightmaster Gavin Monfort . Markus and Sieg have a practice swordfight. Flesh and Blood: Part Three - The fun is abruptly cut-off when the three are informed the next day that Gavin was killed by a pack of predatory animals, who had been responsible for several disappearances in the past few days. Sieg is called back on-duty, Leif volunteers to help since there’s magic involved, and Markus offers his help as well, with the hope of protecting Leif and Sieg or at least freeing up another knight to do so. Flesh and Blood: Part Four - A puma shows up in the city, marked with russet smears on its face that had been noted in the pack of predators involved in the attacks. It’s strangely docile, and Leif is able to examine it and find that the smears are actually runes. It turns out the puma is an elf - and not just any elf, but Sieg’s presumed-dead knightmaster, Gavin. Flesh and Blood: Part Five - Leif casts a mindlink spell between Sieg and Gavin, so the former can relay the later’s account of what happened. They discover a blood-mage has been capturing elves and using his magic and animal pelts to turn them into animals, who are then under the blood-mage’s control. Markus, Leif, Sieg, and Gavin are sent out to find and stop the blood mage. Flesh and Blood: Part Six - The party starts their search, but before finding anything are ambushed by wolves and the blood-mage himself. They manage to hold off the wolves, but the blood-mage casts a spell to create a snake, which bites and poisons Sieg. Flesh and Blood: Part Seven - In a desperate effort to save Sieg’s life, Leif creates a mindlink between himself and Gavin, and sends the elf mental images of antivenom potion ingredients to make sure they can safely be used on the half-elf. Leif gets the venom out, though he and Gavin are accosted by another mental message from the blood-mage partway through. When Sieg recovers, the group decides to go reconvene in a cave near a spring. Flesh and Blood: Part Eight - Markus appears near the end of this part, after Leif has, through his mindlink with Gavin, experienced a vision that would have driven him into sensory overload if Gavin had not done something. Flesh and Blood: Part Nine - The party goes after the blood-mage again, only to be found by him first. The mage gains control of Gavin and turns him on Markus and Sieg, who have to fight the puma while the mage battles Leif one-on-one. Flesh and Blood: Part Ten - Leif is in immediate mortal danger, and Markus, desperate to get to him, finally manages to snap Gavin out of the blood-mage’s mental hold. Gavin, Sieg, and Markus engage the blood-mage, and with a little help from Leif they manage to defeat him. Flesh and Blood: Epilogue - After a few days’ rest, Markus, Leif, and Sieg return to some of their vacation plans and sightseeing. On the last day of their trip, Gavin arrives for a personal farewell, and to give Markus and Leif gifts as thanks for their part in the adventure. Leif recieves an elven-bred falcon, and Markus receives a well-crafted elven sword, complete with Curys-colored trimming on the scabbard. Personality Markus had what many would consider the good fortune of growing up outside of the Accipiter home, and it’s probably fairly accurate to say he’s the most mentally stable and psychologically healthy of Richard and Cateline’s children. For the most part, he’s very friendly and easy-going, a joker who often uses himself as the target since he knows he can handle it, and generally very accepting of people and their eccentricities. Like any knight, of course, he is capable of being perfectly serious in the face of combat, and anyone who underestimates Markus because of his goofiness is likely to be quite surprised if they ever find themselves on the opposite side of a battle with him. Of course, nobody escapes the Accipiter household without some damage. Markus’ issues are mostly in regard to guilt over not being able to do more for his younger siblings, and frustration at being able to see multiple sides of the many family arguments, but unable to get the other members to see them. He’s not entirely perfect at simply speaking his own mind, however; even with his limited visits home as a child, Markus absorbed the middle Accipiter child “keep quiet and keep out of the way” mentality that kept them relatively out of trouble while their parents were busy with the dramatics of the children on either side of Markus and Ingrid. As he’s gotten older, however, Markus has fought to break this habit and speak his mind more often, especially after his older family members’ reaction to him wanting to marry a man. His relationship with Henry in particular has become strained as a result, as he’s the one Markus most often calls out for his behavior. Though exasperated by this, Markus feels he’s doing the right thing, that as a knight and older brother it’s his job to protect Leif, Chamile, and Jonathon from at least their older siblings. Relationships Linnea Accipiter Coming Chamile and Jonathon Accipiter Coming Richard and Cateline Accipiter Coming Henry Accipiter Markus and his elder brother have never had a particularly close relationship, though Henry was always very enthusiastic about including his visiting little brother in the family activities when he ''was ''home. Markus, however, was able to see as he grew older how toxic many of the relationships were between the family members, and started stepping in to try and help his siblings. Though he initially thought Henry would be most likely to listen and change his ways, this proved to be close to the opposite case. Markus did what he could, but there was little he was able to do given how short his visits were and how stubborn Henry was. Despite his frustration with the eldest Accipiter child, Markus has enough distance and perspective to also see that Henry isn’t evil, or even his usual self toward everyone - a lot of his behavior Markus chalks up to ignorance and a very deeply-rooted need to please his parents, a need likely planted there by Richard and Cateline themselves. He concedes that Henry is a good father to his children, and based on the way he treats them, suspects that even the eldest and least-neglected of the Accipiter siblings knows something isn’t right about the way he and his siblings were brought up, even if he can’t quite bring himself to admit it and change his behavior accordingly. Of couse, understanding and approving are two very different things, and it's rare that Markus will attempt to explain his brother's motives for fear that he'll be seen as trying to excuse them. Leif Jade Coming Sieg Braham Coming Gavin Monfort Coming Category:Medieval characters Category:Non-game characters Category:Corvids Category:Minor Nobles